Republic
by MidoriLaboratories
Summary: Witnesses of the Nebuchanezzar incident struggle to make sense of a warp in reality. What makes one 'special' in the Matrix may not be black and white anymore, but a spectrum of grays. OC focus, coarse language, some mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a rewrite of an old story that I did under a different name (DarkStorm3, if you want spoilers and…less quality writing). Names have changed, trims have been made, but the essential story is there. Enjoy.**

Upon the awakening of the One, the Internet exploded with speculation. There had be eyewitnesses everywhere of the terrorists that was what the news had called them- escaping from a government building. The witnesses who had been found, those who had stayed out of curiosity had been rounded up, briefed by the police and let go. A few people had disappeared, although that had not made to news. The hacking community in general seemed to be losing people weekly, at a rate that alarmed the more outspoken of their groups and drove many further underground. The world at large went on, but a new tension filled the air. The world felt a little colder, a little starker than before.

Three weeks after the incident, a young student sat before her computer, reading over the first draft of a paper for her elective philosophy class.

**The Cave theory in Plato's Republic: A group of people are chained up in a cave, to the point of complete immobility. A fire burns behind them, although they cannot see it. An overseer makes a shadow play on the wall, and convinces then that this is all the reality they ever need. There is nothing else for them outside. Then a change occurs; someone smuggles one person out, possibly at great personal risk. How would the prisoner react to this new world. Shock is a given. Yet beyond shock there might be denial, anger, possibly even violence before settling down into a new environment, if that person is even capable of adjusting.**

**The French revolution- meant to be about liberty, but human nature fucked it up; people still starving, taken over by a dictator; but the Enlightenment (see Voltaire works), through bloody, laborious and almost fatally premature birth (in some cases) led to a revolution of thought, in the idea of our own self-worth. This kind of thinking had not been around for nearly a millennium, when Rome collapsed and Europe was thrown into anarchy, and chaos before the seeds of democracy and free thought, scattered to the wind, finally took root once more.**

**What is the next step? We are anesthetized by media. No one bothers to take to the streets anymore, yet views are polarizing in the wider world. In a world overwhelmed by both constant low-level anxiety and creeping apathy, by pills and pop stars, what will it take for a people stand up once more? Do we fight to pull our friends out into the light, or attempt to crawl back into our innocence?**

That last sentence pulled the student out of her fog, and she jerked back from the monitor. She couldn't even pretend this was an intellectual exercise anymore, no matter how she buried what she knew.

She had been walking, that was all. She had been in a café reading bloody Plato, Aristotle, wishing she were at home, in bed, coding, with friends- _anywhere_ else. But no. This was her minor. This was the balance the department had mandated, and now she was in philosophy reading on dead white guys while her classmates took a day off. Not bitter. Nope.

Still, it was an interesting exercise, arguing different ways to view the world. She was trying the to that with her code- make it shorter, take creative chances with it. One day she might elevate it to art. She had laughed at the pretentiousness of that back then.

But damn, it had been a gorgeous day. Anyone would agree that it was a shame to waste it, she wagered.

A helicopter approached a building up ahead. It was clearly having trouble. The pilot was trying to get out, and she realized that she was about to see some die. There was a crash.

But first there was a _ripple_. A stone in a pond. The pilot swung away on a safety line to the adjacent building.

Physics reasserted itself seconds later that yes, this was a glass building and behaved as such. A dissonant terror seized the girl and she ran, cutting down a side street and sprinting until the next major street, where the crash had not been visible. _Calm_, her mind whispered._ Be calm. Everyone else is calm. You're not crazy. You're _not_ crazy. But be calm._

_Walk._


	2. Chapter 2

She wasn't calm, but her mask still held. People were talking about the event. Some had mentioned that strange, physics-bending ripple, but were laughed off. Optics, they claimed. Sun was in their eyes.

So she kept her silence. The dissonance in her mind crashed louder, leaving her mangled sense of ease in it wake.

Ray had come over a few days later, a classmate from the programming department. Sometimes he was more that that, but it was generally casual. They were supposed to study, which meant hang out and eat take-out in front of the TV. The news reported an attack on a government building, many dead, three fugitives. Their sketches splashed across the screen: two men, a woman. It was brief. The rippling glass building was not mentioned.

"Eva."

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the mention of her own damn name. Ray hadn't noticed. She cleared her throat. "Hm?"

"You know that guy who makes all his code about westerns? Sits in the back?"

"Yeah, that's…Tony, I think? Doesn't talk much."

"Tony said he was downtown during that. He's freaking out. He thought he was off his meds, so he asked me to come over and count it out to make sure. He's saying…things." Ray was looking down at his feet, almost embarrassed. "He's kind of a paranoid guy. He hacks, you know. Not dabbling, but other stuff."

"We all do other stuff," Eva pointed out.

"Well, that's mostly benign. You have to know all sides of the industry, right?"

Eva watched him quietly. She hesitated. "I was downtown too."

Ray turned to her, studied her face. "Oh…_oh_." Comprehension bloomed in his eyes. "Is he…"

"He's not crazy." She sighed. "It doesn't matter. Something happened that wasn't supposed to. That'-" she gestured to the television- "says nothing about it. Everything is fine. Nothing to see here."

Ray was transfixed. "You have to talk to him. He's barricaded himself in his room."

"And say _what_? That he's wrong to be freaking out? He's not. But it doesn't matter. I didn't stay. I booked it. It's over, and maybe I'll forget eventually." She met Ray's eyes, and he saw the dark circles under her eyes for the first time. "Eva, I…"

She moved closer to him, craving closeness, distraction, anything. "No, I'll be fine. Just…stay for a while?" He nodded, and she brought her mouth up to meet his.

…

They had made love later, furtively and devoid of their usual playfulness. In the weeks that followed, Eva went about her routine. She'd even dropped by Tony's place. He had been wary, refused to talk to anyone. "I'm not crazy," he said when she said that Ray had been by. "I know. I…saw." Tony's eyes narrowed at her suspiciously. "But it doesn't matter. No one's admitting it."

Tony looked at her more closely. "There's some. I've been looking. People are talking in some places."

Eva blanched at that, and Tony smiled at her, sadly. "You're in it now."

"_No_," she said forcefully, stepping away. He brother had started talking that way, and they he had disappeared, that night twelve years prior. Although…despite herself, she asked the question. "In what?" _Please don't say it, please don't say…_

"There's a group that's been active for years, this has them written all over it." Tony looked less comfortable, but this was familiar territory now. "We probably shouldn't talk about it out here. Come in?"

Eva looked away angrily. "I've heard of the Matrix before. Years ago. Real people go missing, Tony. My brother…" She stopped the torrent welling up inside of her, took a breath and met Tony's eyes again. "Come back to class. Please."

That sad smile remained as she took her leave. Tony watched he walk away, then closed and bolted his door closed. Perhaps a tour of the police records was in order.

Tony didn't show up to classes that week, or the week after. Eventually maintenance broke into his room. They found a nest of wires around a rebuilt computer. The hard drive had been wiped. Tony had long taken is leave, leaving all of his belongings behind.

Eva couldn't even bring herself to act surprised.


	3. Chapter 3

"Shit." In a fit of pique, Eva had pitched a paperweight across the room, shattering the mirror by the door. It had cracked in a spiderweb pattern, with pieces coming off in chucks that shattered merrily upon the floor. On a related note, Eva was not a fan of shoes, nor of socks. "_Shit." _At least no one had seen her do it. People were starting to notice her disconnect. A professor had pulled her aside that day and asked if she was all right. That she see a counselor.

That he was looking forward to reading her paper on Plato's Republic. A stream of curses followed her to the hall closet as she searched for a broom. And shoes. Goddamned glass.

She cleaned it up and straightened to inspect the damaged mirror. "Oh my god," she whispered. Eva raised her hand tentatively, afraid to touch it. The reflection was disjointed, as if all pieces were moved slightly instead of merely cracked. She stared. And stared. No change.

The phone rang, and Eva shrieked, dropping the dustpan full of shards. When she looked again, the reflection had righted itself.

Second ring. "Not crazy," she told to mirror defiantly, as if it were mocking her. "Fuck you. That happened." She walked over the the phone and snatched it up on the third ring. "_What_."

The voice was smooth, feminine. "Good evening, Rhea. I hear that you've stumbled out of your cave. We'd like to talk to you about that."

"I'm kind of banana crackers at the moment," Eva said breezily. Glibness was the best defense against pure crushing terror. For her, anyhow.

"We have a tip from a friend of yours. You're not crazy."

_Fucking Tony_. "My _friend_ has a big mouth, and-"

"Rhea-"

"_Stop_ that-"

"HEY." Eva stopped, dropping her snark shield and finally listening. The voice continued. "There isn't much time. You aren't crazy. You were right to stay quiet. We barely got Tony out before they found him.

"Who-"

"Later, love. I'm sorry, but we're out of time. Come to the Broadview subway entrance. You'll have a choice." The voice softened. "Step out of the cave or go back in. It's even truer than you think. Come now. Fifteen minutes."

"Hurry."

_Click_.

Eva stared at the phone. Tony was gone. The essay…she started, rushed over to the desk.

Emailed it to Ray. It would only raise questions, but maybe that was good.

Tony was gone, now she knew for certain. But not dead. Still alive. Still okay.

Still okay?

And her brother…! She strode towards the door, pulling on her coat. Hesitated. The fire escape was faster, and she wouldn't go through security. Yes it was 3 AM. This was incredibly stupid, of course. She carried a cell phone and pepper spray for a reason. But she'd never get another chance to unravel it all. She was sure of it.

Twenty-nine minutes later, the order was issued into the Matrix:

**START: SYSTEM ERROR**

**STATUS: 555-9999**

**ERROR CORRECTION CONFIRMED.**

**UNIT 275869999754643 CORRUPTED.**

**DISPATCH:**

**AGT15, AGT27.**

**END.**

…**..**

Eva stood shivering on the sidewalk as a thin drizzle broke out. She raised her face to it, shutting her eyes to take in the sobering feeling of cold water on her face.

Her brother Steve had taken her out at the crack of dawn years earlier to a local lake, when it was still cold from the night, giving off an eerie, beautiful mist. That cold had brought instant alertness and clarity like nothing else. She had felt...free. Numb, shocked, and free.

A car pulled up the curb, and she opened her eyes. The car was of a vintage variety but wasn't noisy like one. Odd. The back door opened and a woman peered out at me. "Get in." Eva complied, and the woman slid over to let her in. She slid one hand into her pocket, grasping the can of pepper spray.

The other woman was clad in a long, black trench coat, with leather slacks and high-heeled boots that looked rather expensive. Her dark brown hair was braided in an elaborate cornrow design, and dark glasses hid her eyes. "Rhea?"

"Okay?" Eva replied. This was not what she had expected. "You're all very…hygienic looking," She blurted out.

"Thanks." The woman looked bemused. "We try. What have you got there?"

"What this?" She withdrew the can from her pocket. "Spray paint. I had a paint…emergency…and then you called so that I could get into a strange car…"

"Pepper spray, huh? Smart girl. Glad to see you're still thinking." A click came from the front seat, but neither of the men there turned around. Medea's eyes flicked towards them. "Are we being traced?"

"Negative, Cap. Aiglos claims her signal is scrambled…somehow? They've been dispatched to her place though."

"I'm barely on the spectrum at all, no need to be rude." Eva snapped.

"…What?"

"Huh?"

Medea broke through this exchange. "No one's judging you, you're safe here."

"Okay? Okay." Eva stared a moment, them remembered herself. You said you knew about Tony. My brother used to talk about the Matrix too. Quietly. Before he vanished into thin goddamned air."

"Ahhh," the woman smiled, as relaxed as Eva had seen anyone. "And now you have your own questions." The smile faded. "What you saw was, shall we say, a brief loosening of chains. And you saw something. And now you wonder. Question. And thus we found you."

Eva broke eye contact, looking at the back of the head of the person in the passenger seat. "I can't go back, can I."

"That is really up to you," The woman replied, taking her hand. "Please. Call me Medea."

…..

The chill that swept through every fibre of her being after taking the red pill was unlike any she had felt before. It was countered by a sense of familiarity, an amplified feeling of being horrifyingly, shockingly free.


	4. Chapter 4

Eva, now Rhea, had always been a slow riser. As awareness returned, she became aware of the hard surface she was stretched out upon. She groaned, attempting to squirm weakly as a curious prickling sensation became apparent all over her skin. Voices seemed to echo from a great distance. She muttered something, but it went unheard.

"That was a close call. She was half-dead by the time she reached the bottom."

"I know. But that doesn't matter now. Her vitals are getting stronger, and the anabolics will not likely be necessary after another two weeks."

She muttered again, before slipping away once more. The medic glanced at Medea. "What's pepper spray?" Medea laughed sheepishly. "Looks like she's pulling through."

….

The room was cold, small and metallic and the bunk was worn, although warm and smelling of earth. Rhea inhaled deeply then opened her eyes. Her head was cold. She absentmindedly reached up straighten her flaxen hair to find it gone. The hand instead found a metal circle, almost like a plug. She jerked her hand away with a frightened squeal.

A moment later, Medea appeared in the doorway. She looked different now. Her clothes were roughspun, and all of the polish from their first meeting was gone. She looked tired, yet also…settled. Centred within herself. Sure. "You're awake."

Rhea hoisted herself up. It was harder than she thought it would be. "I…guess? I'm not dreaming? What is all this?" It was then that she spotted a cable running under her sleeve, she followed it to a plug in her arm and stared. "Please say I've been dosed or something."

Medea knelt. "You know we haven't." She pulled the cable out, revealing a strange sort of IV. "You've been in recovery. We were starting to worry for a while there. Most people recover in considerably less time. There were…a few things we didn't quite understand about your extraction."

"What, that scrambled crack? Christ, I'm barely even aspie. It's really mild. Barely even there. There's at least five guys in my classes who are way worse that I am."

"So, you're a savant?" Medea helped her to her feet.

"What? No." Rhea scoffed. "Hell no. I'm just awkward as hell on a good day, and really focused on some things." She glanced at Medea and back to the floor, swaying slightly. "Probably lots of programmers out there with the same deal," She muttered darkly.

"Fair enough," They began to exit the room. Rhea stumbled into Medea, who held her up. "Easy, you have to get used to your muscles again," she warned, earning a sharp, panicked glance from Rhea. "I do have one question, and forgive me if this is a bit much for you right now. Do you remember your dreams, normally? I mean, most, if not all of them?"

Thoroughly confused, Rhea nodded. "Well…yes. I always have. I wake up really slowly, so that helps a lot." She shuddered "Sometimes, especially lately, they're…vivid."

She neglected to mention the nightmares of late. The ones that gave off the impression of being blind, bound and gagged, those binds that were so intimately alien in nature. A feeling of terrible loss when the dream faded. Medea watched her face closely. "Interesting," she commented, mostly to herself. Rhea remembered herself and blushed, uncomfortable again. Medea put an arm around Rhea to steady her. "Come on. Let's meet the crew. Welcome to the Peregrine."

…..

Medea had left three members of the crew in the mess hall when Rhea's thin shriek had come from down the hall. A thin, pallid man entering his thirties was finishing a protein bowl at the end of the table. His tied-back hair was jet black, and a goatee grew on his chin, his face angular with hungry eyes. He had not looked up from his bowl when Medea had taken her brief leave. The other two looked up from their synthesized meals, watching the door. The woman was of Asian descent, somewhere in her mid-twenties. Her eyes were cool, though she kept an eye on the door in case she was needed. The final person was different, in that no plugs adorned his body. The strain on his face was palpable. Newbies always wanted to touch the equipment, and this would be a first tour.

The woman regarded him with amusement. "Relax Aiglos," she chided gently. "New kid just has to catch her breath. I doubt that anything left in the open is terribly fragile anyhow." Aiglos shot her a resentful look for her apparent lack of concern for his equipment, but reluctantly settled back into his chair to finish his meal.

A young man in his early twenties strolled into the room. "New kid's up," he declared unnecessarily. "Medea's asking her if she's a savant or savvy or something. Didn't realized everyone spoke pirate since I unhooked." He slid in next to the pallid man. "Did you _se_e how your signals scrambled? Awesome. It looked like-"

"Like something was being changed, I know," The pallid man said. "Aiglos has been over it a dozen times. Has that area done that again since?" The pallid man asked Aiglos, the freeborn man. Aiglos shook his head. "Nothing. I blacklisted it as a pickup point a week beyond the normal seventy-two hour blackout, just to be sure. What's this about savants, Loki?"

The pallid man, Loki finally looked up from the bowl. "Something the kid said during pick-up, it might not pan out. I looked into it, There's a five percent incidence in the unplugged population. The Oracle keeps a few kids like that for observation."

The young man looked impatient, keyed up. It had been a slow week. Recovery times for new recruits meant that ships had to go low-profile for a week, sometimes two. While it was a good opportunity of on-ship training and maintenance, Nix was getting cabin fever. "So…are a lot of the Nebuchanezzar incident witnesses doing freaky stuff too?" He asked, lowering his voice.

"Well, I don't know, since most of them were rounded up, tagged and dosed. I've never seen them crack down that hard on the general coppertop population before. We don't exactly have a large sample." Loki said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Try to look semi-approachable for the meet and greet, OK Loki?" the woman, Val, broke in before Nix could retort. "I think this is weird enough already for the kid."

Loki smiled wanly in spite of himself. "Sure, luv." She rolled her eyes, but still smiled back, leaning into him. "There's something else. Kind of hush-hush."

Loki raised an eyebrow at his wife, waited. She shook her head. "Later. Has to do with the brain wave patterns we were observing before."

Medea came into the room. Skylla, a lanky gunner, had appeared, and was helping her support a very shaky, wide-eyed Rhea. The thing girl had a blanket wrapped loosely about her shoulders. Her hands were shaking, but it was not extraordinarily obvious. She was managing to hold herself together, so far.

Her pale green eyes swept the room, looking at each of us. Medea proceeded to introduce the crew. "This young man, who you will find to be a paragon of subtlety, is Nix. He's been with us for almost a year now." She inclined her head towards each member of the crew as she got to them. "Aiglos is our operator, and you just met Skylla outside…Loki and Val here," Val gave a little wave, "are the first and second officers of this ship. I myself captain this ship- it's a hovercraft, really."

"Now, this will sound confusing, but I am going to explain everything. Aiglos, I…"

Rhea suddenly broke in. "I have a question." Medea stopped her introductory spiel immediately, and Rhea continued. "I want to know the date. There was a plaque on the wall over by the stairs…"

Silence.

"No one's really sure." Skylla said at her right shoulder. "It's been a long time since we had good records." Rhea stared, alarmed.

Medea maneuvered them around back towards the hallway. "Come on, I'll show you." As they walking out of the dining room, Medea called over her shoulder. "Aiglos, we're going to need the construct ready in five." Aiglos nodded, rising from his seat to join them. After a moment, the rest followed. Breaking in a new recruit always proved to be an interesting, or at least entertaining, event, and no one wanted to miss it.


	5. Chapter 5

The Construct was implacable, as always. Negative space, and often a blank canvas for training, sparring, and playing out the occasional fantasy. It was an open secret, and everyone had their own version of escape. Medea preferred a quiet forest landscape, with a river to quietly sit by. It was a release, for her, and she always felt refreshed on coming out. The opportunities for going out to the river were few and far between, these last few months. She didn't ask what the others did with their time. Those on watch always kept an eye on the activities of those plugged in, but only in a peripheral sense. No one wanted another Cypher incident.

This particular foray into the Construct was for business, not pleasure. Rhea looked like a frightened animal, staring in bewilderment at the pure whiteness of the Construct. Medea sighed internally, put on her mask of serenity. This part was never easy.

"Welcome to the Construct."

Rhea whirled around to face her, Once more clad in the yoga pants and light coats from the night of her extraction. Shelooked down at herself. A look of confusion replaced the fearful one. "These are mine. From..what?" she muttered, half to herself. Looking back at me, she grew more serious. "Context, please. I seem to be missing some, and that woman-"

"Skylla."

"Yes. She said something about no dates? How does that happen?"

Medea bowed her head, marshalling herself. "It is time that I told you the truth about the Matrix. About the things you have seen both in there and out here. You will find it hard to accept, but all I ask is that you try to keep an open mind…"

Inside the control room, the four crew members clustered around the screens behind Aiglos, who sat at his accustomed chair, awaiting the call from Medea. "Alright. This one might not be special in a Neb sense, but she's definitely a little off." Nix said after the two women had been in the Construct for ten minutes.

"Thank you for that evaluation, Nix. When it was your turn, you looked like you were going to pass out." Loki replied dryly, watching the screens.

"Exactly. That's exactly what I mean. Everyone has a fit. This girl just checks for her wallet and goes 'context, please'.

"She's recovering nicely," Skylla observed. "I think she got most of the shock out of her system when she saw the plaque." Val made as to object to that statement, but Skylla continued. "I'm serious. I'm actually waiting for her to crack, but I'm starting to think it's not coming." I shook my head. "Nix could have a point though. Aiglos, you might want to line up some of the harder training exercises for next week. She's way too calm."

Loki spoke up. "I'm looking into the a few profiles that might suit. I have some ideas to run by Medea. Do we have the file on the tip we used?" Aiglos nodded. "Sure, but after. I have to deal with the adrenaline spike in a minute."

Medea had stopped talking, and was waiting to hear what Rhea had to say.

Rhea had seen the fields. The electric currents rippling up one tower and down another. The pink, pulsing pods on either side of me, extending out into the horizon.

Her body was covered in plugs, She had felt them, found them. The evidence of her senses had said that they were real. In the ship it felt different, as if she had more…gravity, substance for lack of a better word.

Rhea looked down at the ground again, if one could even call it that. PAfter a moment she looked up, struggled to hold Medea's gaze. The gravity of the situation deserved that, at least. "I think I understand. I need to let it sink in – it's a bit much to take in at once. I can panic tomorrow, right?" Medea actually looked a bit surprised at the frank remark, albeit a bit relieved to have avoided a hysterical fit, most likely. "The mad dash to the subway was a bit confusing. Was someone coming? Also, can I change this?" She looked at her clothes again. "I looked like hell."

Medea actually laughed. "Yes, though I wouldn't worry too much about that right at the moment. Your appearance now is residual self-image, the digital imprint of your human self." Her smile faded. "We had to get you away from you residence quickly because certain security programs within the Matrix became alerted to your suspicions, as well as the fact that we had contacted you." Pause. "You were smart to run when you saw that helicopter crash. They did a sweep of the areas with a clear view of the glitch a few minutes after, when they had repaired to code for that building, and they may or may not have realized that you were there- or at least, not until we established contact."

She looked as if she were about to say more, but stopped herself before it came out. Instead, she drew a cell phone from her coat pocket, the same one she wore when we met, saying brusquely, "I believe that's quite enough for one person to take in at once." She punched in a number and said, "Take us out now."

Rhea opened her eyes- the true ones- once more.

The next morning, Loki and Val accompanied Medea on a run to see the Oracle. A call had come in, requesting Medea's presence. The place seemed to migrate on it's own, yet rumours claimed that the apartment remained the same. All the better- Loki had taken a hard look at the tip after the reveal the day before, and a private conference with the officers was better kept private while plugged in. The drafty ship might have been fast, but sound carried throughout.

Nix passed Aiglos on the way the mess hall, monitoring the mission. "Need anything? Skylla's one through her checklist for the morning." Aiglos shook his head, eyes remaining forward. "That's a negative. I've got a three minute window open for exits if there's a problem. Get something to eat, you'll be more useful with Skylla if I have to hit the proximity button."

Nix paused. "Did we get any reports from other ships?"

"Not yet. We're passing near the Osirus soon- just restocked- and they've been reporting more activity in general. These tunnels, you think they're mapped properly and they keep throwing up surprises. How's your flight training going, by the way?"

"Ah, better." Nix had finished the basic training, but the flight simulator was a tricky beast. He was better at target work, and Skylla was showing him the ropes of keeping the ship in one piece during downtime. She had joked that His personality made him a perfect work partner. One day she had quipped that any time she started to find him attractive, Nix just opened his mouth and she'd snap right back out of it.

Skylla was just starting her breakfast when he sat down in the mess hall. Rhea made her way in a few minutes later, sending slightly confused glances backwards at the plugged-in crew. Skylla nodded a greeting to the girl. "Morning. Bet you're hungry, eh?" This would likely be her first day off of the IV.

Rhea glanced backwards one last time, then turned her attention back toward us. "Yeah…what do you guys eat here? I haven't noticed a stove or a toaster anywhere…"

Skylla snorted, trying to hold in a sudden burst of laughter. Nix grinned too. "May I?" he intoned in a mock baritone to Skylla. She made a gesture to go ahead, nearly stuffing her fist in her mouth to silence herself. Rhea watched them in bemusement and quietly mounting alarm.

Nix got up and walked around the table to the protein pump. Grabbing a bowl, he served some of the protein mixture up and presented it to Rhea, who turned a slight shade of green. "Hope ya like it. We don't got anything else here." Rhea gingerly accepted the bowl and sat down with it. Stared into it. Skylla handed her a spoon. "Try to pretend its oatmeal or something."

Hesitantly, Rhea dug in and raised it to her mouth, pausing when she realized that we were watching to see her reaction until we went back to pretending to eat. She had a mouthful and immediately turned a deeper shade of green, looking as if she were about to retch. By some miracle she managed to swallow it. "Not…oatmeal," she gasped. "You eat this every day?"

Skylla could no longer hold it in, and burst out laughing, patting her on the shoulder. "You get used to it, trust me. It's actually pretty good for you, they just forgot to add anything resembling taste, that's all." Nix thought of the snot analogy to our meal, but decided against it. She looked sick enough as it was. "Might as well eat it," he advised. "It's not so bad if you make it quick."

Rhea obliged after a moment of staring at the mess in her bowl. A few moments later she had finished it, and pushed her bowl away with a look of distaste on her face.

"Well, now _that_ was a reaction." Skylla stated. "Normally people panic a bit on the big reveal. We were ready for a bit of a fit. Are you normally this low-key?"

Rhea look startled at the mention of the previous day's events, then distracted. "It's the weirdest thing," She started. "I had to study this text and present my findings from one section just before I saw…" She trailed off. After a moment, she shook her head. "Never mind, I'm starting the story in the wrong place again. I was writing a paper on Plato's Republic, and the cave allergory. Everything she said to me, just felt like an echo of that. I think I may have been working out some aspects before, and now, well." She gestured vaguely around her.

Rhea's head snapped up, suddenly mindful of her audience. "Sorry. I should explain."

"Say that there were a group of people raised from childhood in a cave. Their arms and legs are bound, and they can't turn their heads to the side. An overseer tends a fire behind them, and uses it to create shadows on the wall in front of them. These people come to believe that these images are real things, that they are all there is of the world."

I nodded, almost unconsciously. Yes, that did sound a lot like the Matrix. I glanced at Skylla, who looked slightly disturbed. Rhea continued.

"Now say one of these prisoners somehow got out, out of the bonds and outside of the cave. They would likely feel like their senses are overloaded, since they are seeing sun and stars and trees and whatnot. Again, the truth is a little different, darker, but still pretty close."

She paused, her eyes darting between Skylla and I to gauge our reactions. We had become very quiet. "It's actually the next part that makes me a little nervous, because the rest of it has already come true. It's about that person making a choice between whether to hide away or to go back and try to get the others out. If the person chooses to hide, they might be more safe, but would feel guilty for leaving the others behind. If they went back in…well they stood a pretty large chance of getting killed. Either by the overseer trying to keep the outside a secret, or the by other prisoners out of fear from hearing such a strange tale."

Rhea had grown increasingly pale during that last part. She looked at Skylla, then Nix, and looked sick all over again. "Oh shit," she said in a frightened whisper. "It's true, isn't it?"

_There's the panic_, Nix thought. _Better late than never_. "This is on a bigger scale," Nix offered halfheartedly, cringing in acknowledgement of the ineffectiveness of the statement. "I guess that's the general idea, yeah. But some parts are actually pretty amazing. You'll see when you start training."

"Training?" She looked like she was just remembering something. "Oh! I meant to ask before. What are they doing?" Rhea indicated to the rest of the crew strapped into the chairs in the other room.

Skylla seemed relieved to be back on familiar ground. "They've gone inside the Matrix to see the Oracle. She shows up inside now and then, rebels-that's what we are- go to see her for advice and such. You'll probably meet her sooner or later." She sent Nix a look that was slightly resentful. "I've heard she makes good cookies. I wouldn't know, of course- no holes." She patted the back of her head.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Nix said as he got up from the table. "She's a little vague with the advice. I guess that she doesn't want people to look too far into it or something."

Rhea looked interested. "Did you see her?"

"Yeah. It's- well, you'll see when you go meet her I guess." Nix left it at that.


	6. Chapter 6

Rhea came into the dining hall after a few hours of rest after her training, still rubbing her jaw. Loki and Nix were seated therein at the end of a watch shift, having a late night drink of something smelling vaguely antiseptic. Nix glanced up, and was unable to suppress a slight snicker at her appearance. "Wow, you look like shit." Rhea raised her brow as she sat down. "Uh, thanks," she muttered.

The jump had really done a number on her. It was always a shock to the system the first time. Rhea might have landed on her feet though, had the pavement not trampolined her back upwards as her feet had struck it a terminal velocity. The second landing had been face first, but at a lesser speed upon impact.

Rhea eyed the metal cup Loki held with some interest. "What's that?" she inquired. After a moment's consideration, Nix offered his own cup- moonshine was a low dosage sort of swill. She picked it up and took a delicate sip- and nearly spit it out. After a brief struggle she seemed to succeed in swallowing the brew. She looked at Nix and I wide-eyed. "You're telling me that I've had the option of a hard drink this entire time and knew nothing about it?" She eyed Nix in mock suspicion, who was paying very close attention to a dent in the table, trying hard not to laugh. After a minute she looked back at the cup. "What is this anyhow?"

"Skylla makes it. It's a recipe she got from this guy who used to be on the Neb crew." At the mention of the Nebuchanezzar incident he looked away, uncomfortable, which was understandable. The lives we lead hold enough perils from the outside. But from the crew itself…it was nearly unthinkable. _Had_ been unthinkable.

Rhea, however, missed this act of discomfort entirely. "The Neb? What's that, another ship? Like this one?"

"Yeah," Loki said. "The Nebuchanezzar. It's another hovercraft. A lot of weird shit happened with them a few months ago." I paused. "What was it you saw while you were inside? Medea's keeping kinda close about the specific details, but from what I've heard, you saw someone from the Neb's crew, during a particular incident."

Rhea furrowed her brow, thinking. "A helicopter," she murmured. Something must have been wrong with it because it was headed right into a skyscraper. There was a rope-or something- going from the copter to the roof of another building. Someone- the pilot maybe, I'm not sure- jumped out just before the copter hit, swinging on the rope away from the damage. They were wearing a lot of black, I think. It was hard to tell." She shook her head. "Here's the thing that really freaked me out. I don't think that person could've gotten away under normal circumstances. But when the copter hit the building, the glass didn't break. It was like it was water for a few seconds. It exploded a few second later, I think. I'm not sure. I just felt that I had to get the hell out of there as soon as I possibly could." She smiled bitterly. "I ran to the next intersection over before I got a hold of myself and acted like everything was fine for a while. My friend Tony- Oh shit!" she'd nearly forgotten about him! Loki put a hand on her arm. "He's fine. He was the one who tipped us off about you, just before his own extraction. She nodded, distracted again. It suddenly dawned on her and she looked up at Loki sharply. "You know who that was! In the chopper!"

He glanced over at Nix, who had not previously known what she had specifically seen, but this was a familiar story to all of the crews by now, and he decided to answer. "Sounds like Trinity, from what I've heard about the incident. It's actually a pretty wild story, and not a particularly easy one to swallow." He went back to nursing his drink, glancing up a moment later to see Rhea looked at him expectedly, looking irritated. After a moment, Nix grinned at her. "Oh, you wanted to hear it. I guess I could do that." He shook his head. "Too bad you haven't been here long enough to read the files on it. The only place they have translated versions is Zion." Rhea looked slightly confused at this, but seemed to let it go, motioning impatiently for Nix to continue.

And, at great lengths, he did.

Inside the Matrix, unnoticed by the flashing screens on board the hovercrafts, a twenty-one year old man sat in a plastic chair by a reception desk. He looked nearly as drained as Rhea currently was, as he slumped into the chair, his book bag thrown carelessly on the floor, with a cell phone glued to his ear. A tinny voice spoke into his ear as he sat there, half-listening.

"I don't get it, this isn't like her. Eva's the mature one. She stays in Fridays and carried pepper spray and a brick in her purse. Why the hell would she take off like that?" The man made a noncommittal sound, as the voice continued. "You don't think she's involved with anything, do you? I mean, I noticed that she hasn't been to class in the past few weeks. Have you noticed anything weird, Ray?"

The young man straightened slightly in his chair and sighed. "I don't know Gena. She looked like she hadn't slept in days last time I talked to her." He stopped himself from saying anymore, glancing around to see if anyone was in earshot almost superstitiously. "She'd been a little paranoid, I guess. I got an email from her, but it didn't make much sense. Looked like an old paper. Listen, I'm at the police station, and I just filed the missing persons thing, I'm just supposed to talk to someone before I go. I gotta go." With that he clicked END and replaced the phone in his jacket pocket. Slumping back into the chair, he resumed staring at the ceiling. "Shit," he whispered to himself.

Ray wished that he had paid more attention to Eva when he had visited her place weeks ago. He should have gone back. He had tried, but she had almost disconnected entirely after Tony disappeared. He had called her folks to see what was up. They hadn't seen her. It was like she had simply disappeared from the face of the earth.

He had begun to think more and more about urban legends these days. Tony had been full of them, once.

A male voice that wasn't quite monotonous broke into Ray's thoughts, causing him to look up at the imposing figure that stood before him. "Mr. Wallace. I apologize for the wait. My name is Agent Black. If you would follow me, this ought to be relatively brief." The man's attire was slightly surprising. He wore a dark suit, complete with leather shoes and tie. Dark sunglasses concealed his eyes, and a microphone adorned one ear.

Ray got up, collecting his briefcase, and followed the agent down the hall, brow creased in confusion. Agent? Like F.B.I. agent? Secret Service agent? Just what in the hell had Eva gotten herself into?


	7. Chapter 7

Rhea opened her eyes, taking in the dream that was in fact an old memory. After a moment, she gasped and nearly rocketed from her cot.

Loki was up. He'd know.

She practically flew down the hall and up the ladder to the main deck. There he was just watching the code fly by on the screens. "Hey," she gasped breathlessly, taking a moment to remember that she was not in the shape that she had been in while inside the Matrix. Loki waited patiently for her to continue, having the good grace not to poke fun at her entrance.

Rhea stood still for a moment, willing her pounding heartbeat to steady. "How long have you been in here? I mean in the real world and everything?" Rhea blurted out. Loki thought for a moment, answering cautiously; this couldn't be what she had rushed up here to ask. "I got out when I was…" He paused, squinting as he counted back, "…Thirteen? Fourteen? I'm not entirely sure. It's been close to twenty years I'd bet. Why-" Rhea interrupted him. "And most people here were hackers while they were inside, right? That's the impression that I got anyhow." Loki nodded. This was clearly going somewhere. "What is it?"

Rhea took a deep breath, looking straight at him. "Do you know a guy called 'Worm'? That was his screen name anyhow. I kept meaning to ask, but then there was all this other information coming in too. He thought I never saw it." She laughed. "He'd whould've been so mad about that."

Loki had gone from wearily amused to stunned in a matter of seconds. Yes, he had heard of Worm before. "I might know him," he said quietly, cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

Rhea' eyes bored into him, watching his reaction very carefully. "When I was eight my brother took off. No explanation, no note, no nothing." She shrugged, almost to herself. "He convinced me to demagnetize his hard drive before he left. I was too young to know that I was destroying evidence, and eventually my parents realized that too. So he's here." She did not sound terribly surprised.

"It could be the same guy." He relented after a moment's consideration. Medea would be _quite _interested in hearing this, Loki thought with an inner grin to rival that of his trickster namesake.

After Rhea had gone back to bed the gossip mill began to churn.

Medea pulled off her boots at the end of her shift and flexed her feet. It was cold on the ship, true enough, and one learned to make the little aches making up a day a part of life. Still, it felt good to rest.

Her little luxury while plugged in had been a hot bath, as near as to scalding as possible. Water, as with everything else, was rationed on the ship. Even filling a bucket for her sore feet would have been bad form as the captain, although she had quietly come up with a dozen different rigs to do so. The best she could do for now was a simulation, and dreams of the public baths in Zion.

Loki's footsteps- heavy, steady and even- broke through her daydream before he appeared in her doorway. "I just finished my watch. Any reports today?"

Medea shook her head wearily. "No more than usual. The Solaris had a proximity issue earlier, but they're okay." In truth, her shift had been pleasantly tedious, enough to put off her mind the highly undesirable, highly patrolled intersection that she intended to take the through in a few days. If there were a safer route she would have taken it. It had been, and still was the best option to slip through the nets on the way to Zion, and that had not changed, unless she were suddenly gifted with the ability to fly the mechanical lines- a feat that had been tried and failed at time and time again in her time. Back in the old days, when the sentinels had been just beginning to permeate the old tunnels…but no. Medea was a good captain, but she was no daredevil. The Peregrine only had a few good weeks left in her until she needed a recharge, and the food supply was starting to run low as well.

"Oh, it is," Loki chuckled. He sat amiably down in front of her as she buckled her boots. "Remember that mission we took with the Solaris crew about three years ago?"

Medea snorted. "How can I forget? He'd been the captain for what, a month? And he hijacks half our team to go on some wild goose chase without even notifying anyone. I had to leave the potential in the dust just so I could get to a hard line because they can't get their details straight." She glared at Loki. "I'm trying to _relax_at the end of a shift, not stew over rookie mistakes…why are you laughing?"

"Rhea just popped in with an interesting story. Seems like she had a brother who disappeared maybe eleven, twelve years ago. Got her to destroy his gear and everything. She even knew his online handle, so he may not have been careful." Loki smirked. "Solaris is scheduled for docking at the same time as us, correct?"

Medea stared at him, bemused. She shook her head. "Of all things," she muttered. She gave Loki a weary smile. "Yes, they should be in. The Hammer takes short trips as well, so they might be around too. The Neb's coming close to three months. They have a smaller crew, but they'll need to recharge as well." She kept her face still. No need to rehash just _why_ the crew was smaller. Every captain out there had been required to psychologically assess their own crews after that incident, all of those former loners and rebels thrown in to situations beyond their imagining. She sighed and pushed the thought away. "Loki, Worm's more of a hardass than back then, so try to keep the festivities to a dull roar, okay? Lock already thinks I don't run a tight enough operation. I'm damned lucky Skylla and Aiglos can't stand him."

Loki's smirk grew. "You wound me. Besides, Val knows their crew better. A dull roar, indeed."

Medea glared at him, then relented with a laugh. The journey would indeed be dangerous, but at least she could look forward to a show at the end.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a busy morning, as far as Zion days went. Jiang had been jacked into the Construct since 05:00, bringing in three ships, but her work wasn't over quite yet. The morning's last ship was on approach to Gate Three to dock, and it was up to her to bring them safely through.

Typing the pass codes in as fast as she was able, Jiang just needed the entrance codes from the hovercraft just outside the docking bay. After she had seen them safely inside, she could go home. She might even be back early enough to see her girls home from school today. The thought lit up her face as the necessary codes appeared on the screen ahead of her. Smiling, she cleared them to dock at Docking Bay 4.

"Nebuchanezzar, you're cleared. Welcome home."

************

Rhea stepped out of the Peregrine for the first time, awed at the sheer size of the docking bay. Nix stepped out behind her, following her gaze. He smiled at the look of wonder on her face. "If you think this is impressive, wait till you see the city."

Rhea barely seemed to hear him. "This…this is all underground? This is huge."

"Four miles underground, actually," a voice spoke up behind them. Rhea and Nix looked behind them to see Aiglos stepping out, carrying his gear. "We're close to the earth's core, since the sun's rays haven't actually reached the surface for over a century. This is the next best option for warmth." Aiglos walked past them, as if his words signified something that was no longer of any consequence.

Rhea shook her head. "I still can't get over that part," she murmured. "It's so easy to believe that you're just inside some game when you're plugged in. But that…that's Chicken Little dimensions, right there." She looked down at her boots, embarrassed.

Nix looked at her sympathetically. "I know. It's…alot." Rhea smiled slightly at his eloquent choice of words. "Most of us try not to dwell on it too much, I think. That kind of thing will eat you alive if you let it."

An awkward silence hung between them for a moment. Looking around, Nix ventured for a new subject. "So. Skylla mentioned that you had a brother here..."

"Yeah," Rhea said. "I can't be entirely sure, but he seems to have the same story as everyone else here. Y'know, does some hacking, and then disappears into thin air." She shook her head ruefully. "I had the FBI up my ass for three weeks for wrecking his hard drive. They thought I did it on purpose. At least I thought it was the FBI back then because they all called themselves Agents." She said the last word with emphasis, still avoiding Nix' eyes, which had widened in surprise, then in understanding. She caught his look. "Hey, I was only eight at the time, and I was a really gullible kid. At least I made myself look dumb enough for them to bugger off." She shook herself out of her funk. "Steve's got a real flare for getting people pissed off at him, doesn't he?"

Nes looked over at the sound of laughter coming from the direction of the Peregrine crew, pursing her lips in slight annoyance. She envied their lightness, how they seemed less the militaristic uit that they were and more a family. On the Solaris it mostly felt like a job; Worm was not a cruel captain, but he upheld their ranks and treated them accordingly, distancing himself from his crew. He hadn't always been like that- a few years back she could remember Worm as a much warmer man. Yet the year several of the crew had been killed the year he had been made captain. Since then, the missions he took into the Matrix had grow more brazen over time, which had not earned him points from any crews collaborating on said missions. This appeared to be the first time in a while that none of the Peregrine crew had shot her a poisonous look upon arrival.

She looked a little closer, seeing the new recruit. It was nothing out of the ordinary of course, now that the One was present in their forces. Her mind cast back to the tip they sent out, via their own newest member. The young man they had collected had wanted to go back for her himself, but he had still been too green. Had Medea gone ahead with it? It seemed uncharacteristically soon for her. Medea was known to be a cautious captain, taking rare losses and preferring to observe over a longer period of time in order to stake out a potential.

Maiar and Thorn came out behind her, each shouldering their personal belongings in a packsack, with Eastwood, the newest member, trailing behind. Eastwood's attention was drawn to the crowd. "Nes?" He called out uncertainly.

Nes smiled wearily. "That's Peregrine's crew. They got your tip, I think. Looks like they pulled _someone_ out anyhow."

Worm exited the ship then, head, down and fighting sleep. He had grown in the last twelve years. His gangly seventeen year-old frame had become tall and broad, and his angular jaw was set in a way that made people think twice before approaching him. His wheat-coloured hair had been allowed to grow out to touch his shoulders, covering his plug and held back with a simple band of cloth.

The nearby laughter cut through his headache like a knife, causing him to jerk himself up out of his funk, furiously scanning for the noise that had aggravated his aching head, his eyes resting on the crew of the Peregrine. Typical.

The group began to move away from the ship when Maiar spotted the crew exiting on from the hovercraft parked on the other side. "Hey, the Neb's here," She said, trying to play it cool. "You know, I could see Morpheus going all Charleton Heston and parting the Red Sea, but that guy always just looks embarrassed."

The crew of the Peregrine group watched as the Solaris crew spotted the Nebuchanezzar. Nix looked expectedly towards Rhea, who had gone pale. Loki had clearly identified the right person. Nix regarded the Solaris captain for the first time in his relatively short time of being unplugged. He just looks like her, he thought to himself. Rhea was much shorter, and her hair was still barely more than a light fuzz. Still, they had the same lankiness, the same set of their jaws.

Rhea began to walk towards the distracted crew, with the others trailing behind. "That's him alright," she whispered back at Loki, who simply nodded. The resemblance between brother and sister was actually quite striking. It was an interesting thing to witness in the real world, where humans were grown in pods and heredity was an uncertain thing.

Worm was at the back of the group, looking tired and annoyed that everyone had stopped to gawk at Neo. He was clearly aware of all the eyes, and it was just as clear that he could do without it all. He had been on edge since that new recruit, Eastwood, had given him a name, just prior to swallowing the red pill.

He couldn't go after her himself, of course. Ever since his little stunt upon leaving she had been under watch. The poor kid had already been so damned fearful. More to the point, she was also bugged. The agents had seen to that immediately after his departure. Still, her signature on screen had always been a little…off. Medea had taken the tip from him, since she was closest to the drop-off point. He had a good idea where she would be coming from anyhow.

Family groups were often in the same vicinity, at least.

Still, Medea was known for playing the long game with new recruits. It would be a while before she got Eva out, if she did at all. Eastwood's information had suggested that she might go for the blue pill, but-

A sharp pain blossomed in his shin. He turned around, ready for a fight. Who in their right mind would walk up kick a seasoned captain in the shin- oh.

_Oh_.

His estranged younger sister stood there, scowling at him. Most of the crew of the Peregrine was a short distance behind her, failing miserably at keeping their faces straight. She had to be at least twenty by now, but it was definitely her. "Uh. Hey…Rhea?" That was the handle Eastwood had given. Rhea's face softened very slightly as she nodded, an over magnanimous gesture that completely ignored the earlier assault. Worm raised his eyebrows at this, very nearly smiling. Still the same kid, for sure. She looked uncertain for a moment. "Do we…do we hug it out now?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Do we…do we hug it out now?"

Worm snorted, but he was relieved. He thought she would be furious, if he ever saw her again, but it seemed he was getting off with a very light kicking. "If that's what you want, then go for it."

Rhea took a moment to think on this, and in that moment Eastwood noticed the conversation going on behind him. Rhea was so focused on finding the right things to say to her brother after more than a decade that she failed to see the figure running up to her right until she was swept up and spun around in a tight hold.

Eva yelped and froze up at this new attacker. Skylla stepped forward to help extract her, when the assailant loosened his hold and held her back at an arms length to look at her. "Toldja, didn't I?" Eastwood smirked. Rhea's expression went from panicked bewilderment to affectionate irritation. "You prick, I already knew. This douche," she jerked her head over at Worm who was more amused that annoyed, "ensured that."

Tony's – no, Eastwood's now- brows drew together, partly in confusion and partly in discomfort at the casual slur. "What? The captain already-" He looked at one, then the other, putting it together. "You're the brother!" He exclaimed. "Yeah! And Ev- I mean Rhea said…I, um wow."

The rest of the Solaris crew had begun to notice the events unfolding behind them, and the increased size of the crowd. Medea, who had hung back, chose this moment to make her way over and sidle up next to the other captain. "I didn't detect any bugs," She said in a low voice. "And there's something else I should discuss with you."

Eastwood had thrown an arm around Rhea's thin shoulders and was regaling the Peregrine crew with his own story of how he had gotten out. Worm looked at her sharply. "No, she was definitely bugged. They got her right after I got out, and kept a watch. I used to check every now and then." His voice had hardened over the course of the conversation.

"I believe you. Something was off with Rhea's signal when we were tracking her. It kept scrambling, especially when under stress. Worm, I think she might have killed it."

Rhea glanced over at the crew of the Neb and her eyes grew wide. Nix caught this and followed her gaze over to a woman with dark hair moving away from the Neb. She had a regal poise, though she seemed to be unaware of it. Nixed looked back to Rhea and Eastwood with a grin. "She's from the Neb?" Rhea asked Nix, almost shyly. Nix nodded. Rhea looked back at the woman in awe.

At that moment a teenage boy came streaking past. "HEY NEO!" The man walking next to Trinity looked back and seemed to wince slightly, though Rhea could not say for certain.

"Here it comes," Skylla said gleefully. The group seemed to chuckle as a unit and moved towards the third crew, eager to catch the show.

The dark haired woman that Rhea could now identify as Trinity hid a grin as the Kid's bellowing reached them. Neo had never really gotten used to the attention paid to him by the citizens of Zion, but the Kid's hero-worship was kind of sweet in its naïveté. It was true that Neo had played a part in the Kid's release from the Matrix- the totality of his faith in Neo had saved him when any other hacker would have been gunned down. But the boy had put the pieces together himself- he had been his own red pill, a rare self-substantiation.

Now if only he would figure that part out…

They seemed to be drawing a crowd this time, before they had even left the docks. This time, at least, the faces approaching were familiar ones, from the Peregrine and the Solaris ships. Maybe they could distract Kid so they could slip away- the walls of the Neb were thin, and an insatiable hunger had been rising in her for the last few days that could not be quenched by the slop they ate on the ship. She glanced at Neo, catching and locking his gaze for a brief moment- long enough for her to reads a similar hunger brewing in her lover.

The three crews converged, exchanging polite greetings. In the midst of it all, Rhea stood rooted to the spot, staring at Trinity and Neo, apparently star struck. The captain of the Nebuchanezzar noticed this as he was discussing the growing number of sentinels in the tunnels with Loki. Loki turned his head to see what had briefly captured Morpheus' attention and chuckled. "You probably see a lot of people looking like that when around those two, huh?" Loki paused a moment, scratching his jaw in an idle manner. "Told us she saw your pair there crash a helicopter into a building, and delayed the explosion till she got clear. Medea found out a coupla days ago that she started having dreams right after about being in a pod. Have you heard of anyone scrambling their own signals before?"

Morpheus regarded him with some interest. "The dreams are nothing new. Her connection to the Matrix may have been weakened by what she had witnessed, especially during an unconscious state. The signal issue, now, that is something I've seen, albeit rarely. Most of the people who show such traits are less, well, suited to being soldiers. Has it happened again since extraction?"

Loki shook his head. "We haven't gone back in yet. The Construct has some readings, but that's a closed system. Medea's holding things back on this one, and that's unlike her. She's planning to keep her on if possible, so it looks like she's set to go in the next broadcast we do."

Nes and Skylla had carried their conversation over the amalgamated group. "So Worm has a baby sister," Nes marveled. "Amazing. And here we were, all thinking that he had hatched from a dragon egg."

Skylla laughed, her grin taking on a smug quality. "And I've been noticing that our very own Nix has been growing less asinine by the day since we picked her up." Then again, she thought, he may just be relieved to regularly interact with people his own age again.

Captain Mifune strode towards the three intermingled crews, his face stony and grim. The bags under his eyes were dark and pronounced, a sign of the three consecutive nights of sleep he had missed over the last week.

Val caught sight of the captain of Zion's defense systems and waved. However, the grin slid off her face as Mifune shook his head slightly at Val, looking at her balefully with hollow eyes. She turned, catching Medea's eye and gesturing in Mifune's direction. Medea craned her neck to see over the others as a cloudy expression passed over her face upon seeing Mifune's current state. Any time Mifune looked that tired meant that bad news was coming.

Val drifted over to the others, who had begun to pick up on the subtle shift in the mood of the group. They watched as Medea quickly made her way over to Morpheus and Worm, calling the captains' attention towards the newcomer.

Val looked worried. "Must have something to do with the extra sentinels we've been seeing lately." She sighed quietly, shaking off her funk. "Oh, well. I guess Medea can tell us about it tonight." The captains seemed to stop, as if they had forgotten something, and Val's face visibly brightened. "Ooh, looks like you might be meetin' the Council today, newbie. They like to meet the people who're fightin' for them, preferably soon after the unplugging. That, and room assignment, paperwork, some other stuff."

Sure enough, Worm turned back towards the group, waving Rhea and Eastwood over. Val chuckled and gave Rhea a small shove forwards. "Have fun," she called merrily after her. Rhea walked towards the captains, giving her brother a scrutinous look. He laughed outright at this, and she aimed a playful punch at his ribs.

Mifune caught this interaction out of the corner of his eye and moved to reprimand the new recruit, but Worm shook his head, cutting him off. "Sorry sir, I'm pretty sure she only punches family." Rhea suddenly picked up on the situation and stepped closer to Medea, contritely casting her eyes down. Mifune shook his head and led the group into the elevators.

"Here we are," Worm said the elevator reached their destination. The five soldiers stepped out, moving towards the large, elaborate doors leading to the Council chambers.


	10. Chapter 10

The Peregrine raced trough the tunnels with renewed vitality, having recharged and departed Zion but a single week earlier. The crew was also recharged after a period of warm food and warm beds, with the exception of one member. Rhea had become quiet again, distracted. During training her eyes took on a haunted quality that Medea didn't much like. Anyone who asked the girl what was wrong got little more than a sad smile and a shake of the head; all's well, nevermind, don't worry about me.

Yet today was a day that the depression would have to be pushed aside, Rhea mused as she pulled on her boots, half an hour before beginning her shift. This day would be her first real trip into the Matrix. The idea had made her feel almost giddy before, and her eyes still retained a glimmer of that sparkle from before. However, she did not know just how high the stakes were set before. Now she had somewhat of an idea. The lights overhead flickered as Rhea made her way down the hall to eat quickly before going in. She wouldn't be eating much- her stomach was in knots.

Half an hour later Rhea lowered herself into a broadcast chair, wariness and trepidation all but screaming on her features. A tap on her shoulder caused her to jump, whipping around so quickly that Val jumped back in surprise.

"I was gonna ask how you were," Val said in with a nervous laugh. "But I guess I don't have to." Rhea blushed and looked down the chair, moving to strap her feet down. "Sorry," she muttered. "Guess I'm just jumpy."

Val nodded, smiling faintly. "First time in's always a little scary, no matter what you hear from people." She moved towards a chair, flopping casually into the seat. "We've noticed you've been a little down lately around here. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but me and Medea don't think it's just jitters. What's been up with you lately?"

Rhea shut her eyes at this and bowed her head slightly. Val thought that she wasn't going to answer her for a moment, but the Rhea began to speak.

"In Zion…when I was getting a room assignment…we passed the archives, and I remembered that there was a file on the whole Neo thing down there, so the guys I was with showed it to me. After that…I asked, um," Rhea paused. She didn't want to get that guy in trouble for answering her question. Val looked at her, concern etched across her face.

"I asked how this whole thing got started." Rhea raised her head and looked right at Val now. "This war. And…I guess I got an answer. They showed me this file that answered an awful lot of questions, a lot of which I hadn't even thought of." Rhea tried a smile. "Things look awfully shitty when given a little context, I guess."

Val stared at her for a moment, her mind racing. File? What file was there that had…"Aw, shit." Val winced as she recalled a story she had heard in the academy about an uncensored account of how the war started, kept in the Archives for military access. Anyone training who was curious could access it, but it was classified as restricted to the general public. It had been dubbed as the 'Suicide File' because more than one person had dived from their level in the past after fully witnessing the power of those they fought.

File 1-12. From what she'd heard, Commander Locke had tried to upgrade it's status to "classified, as it deterred many potential candidates from pursuing work in defending the city and recruiting individuals in the Matrix, but the Council had deemed that people had a right to know how things had come to be the way they were if they wanted to. However, that didn't keep it from becoming taboo among the pod-born recruits.

Val sighed. "I guess that explains the mood you've been in." Glancing back to check that everyone was still finishing their breakfasts, Val leaned towards Rhea and spoke in a low, hurried tone. "Look: I haven't seen that thing myself, but I've heard it can mess people up. I'm guessing the high mortality rate makes a bit more sense now to you?" Rhea looked away at this and quickly nodded, biting her lip " Val simply nodded. "Thought so." Pausing a moment to think, Val's next words startled Rhea in their familiarity. "You remember that story you told us about the cave? You're in it now. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you can accept the risks that come with helping others discover the world outside that cave. Because in there," nodding her head towards the scrolling code of the screens, "there are a surprising number of people who aren't buying the story that they've been fed."

Rhea looked at Val for a moment, face blank, absorbing what she had just been told. Just then Nix and Medea came out of the mess hall, heading over towards them. "You ready for this?" Medea asked tentatively of Rhea, wary of the delicate emotional state she had been in for the past several days.

Rhea broke eye contact with Val to buckle her other boot into the chair. Looking over her shoulder at Medea, Rhea gave a cocky little grin that warmed the captain's heart. "Let's go."

Val smiled broadly.

Rhea flopped into a chair in the broadcast room, craning her neck back to get a view of who was coming. Aiglos was busy setting up, and Skylla was standing by to handle the plugging in. Medea was already comfortable in the chair next to hers, and Loki was just getting settled in his. Val came out of the dining hall, followed by Nix, who had been hovering about all morning and generally irritating the crap out of Aiglos in his anticipation for a change in activity.

One by one Skylla plugged them all in, stopping by Rhea last. You're looking unusually perky," she commented, cocking her head to the side. "Not that I'm complaining. You've just been mopey lately. I'd been looking forward to seeing more of the little psycho who was bouncing off the walls when we left. I thought we'd lost our new mascot." She grinned down at the supine girl, who scrunched her nose and gave her the finger in response. Skylla snickered. "Ah, there it is. 'Night psycho. Have a good trip." With that the woman slid the plug in, and Rhea joined the crew inside the Matrix.

The first sensation the girl had was the smell of mothballs, and the musty smell of an old, neglected building underneath. Then she opened her eyes and raised her head at the sound of an old-fashioned telephone ringing on a desk. The entire crew stood in front of it. Medea gave the room a once-over to see if the were all there, then stepped forward to pick up the phone. "We're in."

She hung up and turned towards the group. Rhea, in the meantime, was examining herself. She wasn't all decked out in leather like the others- in fact, this was probably what she would wear on a day out were her budget slightly larger and more open to that sort of thing. Heavy combat boot came up to mid-calf, with think canvas pant tucked into the tops. She wore a dark green camisole, and a leather coat on top of that that came to just below her knees. However…

"Who the in their right mind would give _me_ a gun?" Rhea muttered at the discovery of her newly acquired accessory nestled in a holster at her side, under her left arm. Medea, who had been about to address the group, snapped her mouth shut at this interruption of the gathering of her wits for another trip out. Val answered for her. "We never used to give newbies those just starting out- it was just the residual self-image. Now its required to arm everyone everytime we go out. I don't know why no one said anything. Seems kinda normal now. Sorry. You did the program for that anyhow, you should be okay."

Medea cleared her throat. "Alright, I'm only gonna go over this once, so listen up. Rhea this is standard procedure. Three go forward, two stay back. Nix, Val, that'll be you. Anything goes wrong while we're gone, get the hell out. Everyone familiar with this place and the layout?" Everyone, including Rhea, who had had to study a blueprint of the old warehouse, nodded. "Good. You know what to do if Aiglos calls you for backup…alright then. Let's head out." Nix snapped a salute at Medea's crisp tone with a smirk, catching Rhea' eye. "Have fun out there."

Rhea made her way past into the apartment while Medea elected to wait by the entrance. The living room was large and had a comfortable feel to it. It was also full of gifted children, each with unique abilities to manipulate objects. Manipulate the Matrix, she corrected. These were just kids who had found a few extra rules they could break.

Two girls were watching a television, and giant rabbits came in and out of focus. Curious, Rhea sat down next to them. The girls glanced over at her, and the picture lost focus, then sharpened again as they decided to ignore her. Rhea noted this, scrutinizing the girl who was closer. "How are you doing that?" The girl blushed, only partially from modesty. "I…it's not really there. It's all in your head. I'm not sure how else to say it," she said with a shrug, not taking her eyes back off the screen. Rhea looked back to the same place, her brow furrowing. "Huh." Maybe it was a matter of mental projection, like her clothes and…well maybe not the gun. She closed her eyes and concentrated on an image, something that was almost a memory. The girl giggled and she opened her eyes, grinning.

The screen now showed an image of the three of them from behind, in black and white, sitting in front of that very TV. Rhea was Eva in this image, still in a t-shirt and boxers. The young woman on the screen slyly raised her hand with index and middle fingers extended in the form of bunny ears behind the girl's head, and the girl giggled again and glanced behind her, ascertaining that the hand in question was not actually hovering mockingly behind her head. The woman who had let her in came back into the room, laughing gently at the scene. "That's some show, but you'll have to cut it short-for now. The Oracle will see you now."

Rhea's energy was high as she nearly skipped though the beads that hung in the kitchen doorway, electing to gently push them aside instead. A frail-looking woman with frizzy hair sat at the kitchen table, having a smoke, with a plate full of cookies sitting just off to the left. The woman smiled gently at the slightly bewildered girl. "This what you expected sug?" Rhea shrugged one shoulder. Kinda…I guess. All I was really told for sure was to expect cookies."

The woman's- the Oracle's face cracked into a grin now. "Well, I guess that's fair. People aren't too trusting nowadays- never were, really, but that's especially true now. Can't blame 'em, really." The sharp eyes that had been wandering the kitchen focused back on Rhea, and she paused to take a puff before placing the cigarette on the edge of the ashtray.

The Oracle pushed back from the table, slowly moving towards Rhea. Rhea blinked, nervously glancing at the floor and suppressing the urge to back away. With a determined huff, she looked at the Oracle and held her gaze. The Oracle smiled gently at her. "It's alright, sugar. I just want to get a look at you." Rhea tensed up as the Oracle reached up to look at her face. The surprisingly strong fingers pressed her jawline just beneath her ears; Rhea was reminded of doctors checking for swollen glands. Somehow, the light pressure felt soothing, and Rhea relaxed marginally. In the background, she heard the children laughing at some game. The silence in the kitchen grew louder, and she forced herself to refocus on the situation at hand.

The Oracle smiled in encouragement.

"I'm going to take a guess- filtering things out is a little hard for you. Noises, little movements- things that folks tend to ignore all get equal billing in your head." Rhea looked back at her nervously. Had Medea spoken with her? It didn't seem impossible. The Oracle's voice remained calm and gentle. "Not to worry, I see lots of kids like you. Interesting little trick, by the way. You've been catching on fairly fast, judging by the way Nadia was carrying on out there," she said, referring to the little girl by the television. She released Rhea, walking back to the table and reclaiming her cigarette. "It's useful, knowing how to do things like that. The Potentials out there have a little talent, but it's been nutured young. You don't see it too often with the older group, with…obvious exceptions." She gave a cunning smile, an old lady in on a juicy secret.

Rhea found her voice. "How do you know all this?" She asked quietly. An idea was starting to form in her mind.

The Oracle continued to smile. "Ah, well. There's a bit of a grapevine in the Matrix. Not much, but there are patterns in patterns, even when all you see is chaos. A little variable here and there…well, it just adds a bit of spice to the whole, doesn't it? Sometimes you can even come out with a whole new recipe." She lifted the cigarette to her lips and inhaled, all the while watching Rhea intently. "What you've done for yourself- you can do for others, but only if you learn to trust your own instincts."

Rhea had focused in tightly on the Oracle, seeing and not seeing. The language and the image did not match, but something was so _familiar_ about it. The safeness of it, coupled with the feeling of an impending storm- _She had felt this before_, and recently.

The recording. File 1-12.

"Oh my god," Rhea breathed. "You're a part of it."

The Oracle looked at her. "Yes," she said evenly. "I suppose I am."

They all trusted her, a program. And she had guided them in turn. How would the others react at the news? How in the world had they not figured it out? Maybe they had.

It…didn't matter.

"I…" Rhea breathed, cleared her throat and tried again. "The other day. I found out why…" She waved around herself halfheartedly. "I'm so sorry." She crossed the room in three long strides and embraced a bemused Oracle. "I don't understand us sometimes."

The Oracle patted her on the back. This wasn't the first one to guess her nature. The lack of suspicion, not questioning her motives…she had been ready to deal with either and both, and not having to was a bit of a treat.

Rhea pulled back, slightly embarrassed. The Oracle squeezed her hand, and eased herself back into her seat. "You understand much more than you think, honey," she said. "Don't be afraid to speak up when you do. Anyways," the kind little old grandmother was back - "You should be getting back. I imagine Medea's getting a little antsy out in that hallway. Help yourself to a cookie on the way out."

Rhea did as she was bid and made her way to the front door, distractedly returning the young girl's wave. Medea looked up and smiled in sympathy at the girl's confusion. "I see she's messed with your mind a bit, as always. Aiglos just called- he caught your TV trick. I think you just made a fan."

Medea wearily hauled herself up from the bench and moved towards the door. "By the way, you gonna eat that?" A mutinous mutter came from behind her that sounded suspiciously like "Get your own damn cookie." Medea chuckled and headed into the hall, moving towards the elevator as Rhea followed her, taking a huge bite out of her cookie.


	11. Chapter 11

Ray walked down the street towards the parking lot after class. It had been a week since that spook at the police station had questioned him. It had been one of the weirdest experiences of His life, yet he could not put his finger on exactly what had bothered him about it.

They had questioned him for over an hour and a half on Eva's habits, any deviations from the norm of late…they had almost seemed to perk up at the description of his last visit, when she had gotten that weird IM, but it was next to impossible to say for sure. He had asked several time what she had done wrong…and then finally one of them seemed to scrutinize him closely, like a bug under a magnifying glass. When Ray had finally gotten uncomfortable enough with this to start squirming a bit in his seat, the agent had broken out of his trance and replied that she might have fallen in with a group involved with…highly criminal activities, possibly to the point of terrorism. He had left the station with a funny feeling in his gut, and his dreams that night had been the most terrifyingly vivid dreams he had had since he was seven.

He reached his car, an old heap not quite ready for the junkyard…but close, ever so close. He pulled out of the space, moving out toward where the lot ended and the street began, pondering terrorism and whispered stories.

He turned his head as a shiny dark green vintage car drove by, probably a GTO and a damn nice one at that. He was about to fall back into his state of semi-awareness when he saw a girl sitting in the backseat, with beige-tinted sunglasses and a shaggy head of wheat-coloured hair. He rocketed back to awareness, staring after the car. _Can't be, _he thought. Nonetheless, he shifted gears, pulling out onto the street as he began to tail the car at a distance.

The car pulled into the lot in front of the moldering old warehouse, unaware of the straggler they had picked up, sitting in a poorly-maintained white car on it last legs, watching the group get out of the car with a feverish intensity. He was tense, so tense his skin seemed to thrum and vibrate beneath his shirt. He saw the girl get out of the car…it was her. She casually slammed the car door shut, turning her head towards what some chump, about his own age but a little bigger, sitting on the front steps of the abandoned building had said, shrugging her shoulders and grinning in response. Ray almost growled, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel.

"What the hell are you doing here, Eva?" he whispered in a taunt voice laced with pain. Why had she disappeared from the face of the earth? Who were those people with her? Were they the ones responsible? A million questions raced through his mind, buzzing by too quickly for him to be able to think coherently.

Right then, his idling car gave him his second mind-clearing jolt of the last half hour and backfired at a deafeningly high volume. Ray jerked like a frightened bird as four guns were drawn and leveled at him in a quarter of a second. He froze in his seat, going deadly pale and emitting a breathy squeak.

…..

Rhea got out of the car, still contemplating the strange new ability that had manifested itself in her just recently. Slamming the door shut, she turned her head at the sound of Nix's voice calling over from the front steps of the warehouse. "I hope that old lady thought to pack some cookies for the rest of us…although I'm starting to suspect that the cookies only come if a fortune comes with it."

Rhea didn't quite laugh, but grinned all the same to acknowledge him as she strode over. "Mine wasn't so bad, actually, but the little kids in the waiting room were actually a lot more educational. She just got me thinkin' about some broader applications." She shrugged a shoulder almost carelessly, her grin growing broader as Nix' expression, as well as Val's grew mystified. She turned her attention to Val. "I think….I'm not sure but I _think _thatI manipulated light patterns. I only did it on a TV, so I don't know if it was just electronics that I messed with…" Rhea' expression grew doubtful as she pondered this. Loki came up behind her, moving past her towards the warehouse. "The Matrix IS electronics, remember? You manipulated an image inside the Matrix, without changing its essential nature, if what Medea said in the car is correct."

"Damn Aiglos and his big mouth. I wish I'd gotten a chance to mull this through first before opening it up to forum." She had reached the door by now, and Val had caught this disgruntled mutter. "Ah, don't sweat it. Yo-" A loud crack cut Val off neatly, and everyone but Rhea immediately drew their weapons at aimed them at the source of the noise, only to see a young man sitting in a battered car, scared shitless. Rhea, far more familiar with the sound of her old friend's car backfiring than gun battles, did not draw, but jerked in surprise to see Ray behind the wheel.

The older woman with brown hair seemed to listen to something Eva was saying then holstered her gun and pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number, while the other three kept their guns trained on him. Ray had decided to remain perfectly still, with the exception of raising his hands from the wheel in a sort of 'don't shoot me' gesture. Eva stared at him, looking more than a little surprised.

A piece of newspaper was blown by the wind between the group and the car, and Eva's attention seemed to fasten on it. The wind gusted, picking it up a few feet, and suddenly that random piece of trash changed. It seemed to scramble, like a bad video file sometimes would. Then it returned to normal, the moment over. Ray's eyes grew huge, and more questions filled his mind. However, these questions were a far cry from the ones he had had before.

"What is the Matrix," he whispered in awe.

Medea hung up. "I think your friend is bugged. He voice was calm on the surface, but the tension underneath it revealed her desire to be away from there. They were vulnerable like this, out in the open.

Rhea looked at her sharply, then back to Ray, watching some degree of realization come over Ray's face from across the decrepit lot. "I should have guessed they'd target him too," she said softly, to no one in particular. Medea hesitated, touching the girl's arm. "We need to get out of here. He's still connected to the mainframe, and the last thing we need is to get five people out on one phone with agents behind us." Rhea nodded again, but she was no longer paying attention. Ray had begun to clamour out of the car, doubling over with pain. "One more minute," Rhea whispered when Medea tightened her grip on her arm. Loki thumbed the safety off of his weapon, nodding to Val and Nix to do the same. Something was wrong with him- Agents had this effect on the people they were overwriting, but he also looked almost out of focus. Ray screamed and slumped to the group, unchanged.

Rhea broke her gaze, to look at Medea. "I think it's okay now," she said. "Look, right there by his hand." Medea squinted, and went pale. "That's the bug. Rhea, did you…"

"He has to keep it on him," Rhea said flatly, walking towards the car. "They'll know if he doesn't."

Medea's jaw worked. "Loki, you and Nix get to the phone. Val, we're hanging back." Loki nodded and grabbed a reluctant Nix by the arm, half-pulling him inside the building.

She reached the car and hauled him up to rest against the side door. Ray had passed out momentarily from the pain, and was very slowly coming to. "Eva…where…"

"Quiet. There's no time," she said sharply. She stooped for a moment to take hold of the item in question. "You talked to some agents, right? They bugged you. This was in your body." She showed him the small metallic canister that had lost its organic properties. A small red light now pulsed dully at its tip. Ray blanched, overwhelmed. Rhea wrapped one hand around his jaw. "Hey. Focus. It's out, but it's a tracking device. _Keep it with you_. Remember Tony? Everyone thought he was paranoid, but he was right about all of it." She took one of his hands, placed the device in it and stepped back.

Ray's eyes cleared and he stared, frightened. "The…Tony's alright? We…we all though you were dead, Eva."

Rhea smiled, but her eyes were sad. "It doesn't matter now. Wait for the call." With that she turned and sprinted towards the others, leaving Ray with the monstrous little device clutched in one hand.


	12. Chapter 12

Two weeks had passed. With the semester over Ray had no classes to miss, but his answering machine was nearing its capacity with the voices of concerned acquaintances and friends, and the notes pasted to and slipped under his door had gone unread.

Ray had stopped answering his phone, or paying attention to the people who periodically came to his door to see if he was alright. Ray had looked at himself in the reflection of his bathroom mirror that morning and experienced a painful bout of déjà vu when he remembered how bad Rhea had looked the last time he'd seen her before she had disappeared. He still had the card from that agent who he'd spoken to at the police station, but the moment he considered making use of it the nightmares crowded back into his mind's eye, and he couldn't bring himself to call the number on the card no matter how hard his rationality tried to assert that nightmares were not the same as real life. Eva's words rang in his ears, and the nightmares had become more vivid with knowing. The hateful little device now sat in a jam jar, buried at the bottom of his book bag.

Stumbling from lack of sleep over to his computer, he logged in and reviewed what he had come up with for what felt like the hundredth time. Eva's screen name was Rhea, which he had already been well aware of. She had told him a year after they had met that her older brother had been of the hacker variety in high school, and had gone missing when she was a little kid, likely a runaway. Maybe there was a connection there, but having happened several years ago, it would not be easy to dig up. The police records on the matter were annoyingly vague, and, not knowing his screen name, he likely would not find much more on that particular subject.

He had found plenty of rumor sites on the Matrix, but nothing seemed solid to him. Every now and then he wondered whether he had hallucinated what he had seen- and felt- in front of that warehouse, but the evidence was always right there, blinking away in his bag. He rubbed the side of his face with one hand, calling up the research he'd done on what Eva had been looking into in the days before she disappeared. He had been able to get ahold of her computer soon after she had vanished, initially for safekeeping until she came back- hopefully with an amusingly logical account of what she had been up to. He had uploaded her online history files onto his computer and was now following the trail of breadcrumbs she had left. A lot of it was the same rumor crap that he had been sifting through mixed with some philosophy bits on Rhea that gave him the willies. Not much to go on.

He pounded away at the keys for a few minutes before he got into a special hacker's chat on the Matrix, one of several he had been frequenting for the past few days. He didn't speak of it, but a buddy in high school had gotten him into hacking briefly to take advantage of so-called secure systems that handled online auctioning transactions. He had dropped it once he had enough money to comfortably get through school, but the skills he had developed had not gone rusty, he could now see. Someone in that particular chat had passed along a message for him to log in that morning, and Ray was growing desperate enough for a lead to listen. He watched as the chat scrolled down the screen:

_Briareus00 has entered the room._

_Nilla: Hey, it's the appleseed dude! How goes it?_

_DeATH2L33T: Argh, it's so slow today. Hey Bri, you find any new leads on your friend?_

_Nilla: Her stuff is probably wiped by now. The trekkie dude I told u about should be here any minute, he seems to actually know what he's talking about._

_Kitten3632: Whatever, I bet the guy just gets off on jerking you assholes around._

_Nilla: flips off kitten who the fuck asked you bitch? No one's forcing you to be here. What's wrong, ran outta pedos to bait?_

_[Kitten3632 has left the room]_

_Briareus00:I haven't found much new, rabbit had a bunch of stuff on Rhea mixed in with her other files, but I didn't really see any connection till I found this essay she had on disk that she wrote about a week before she went away_

_Briareus00:Guys this is getting way past weird, are you sure this guy is showing up? Im running out of leads and my typing is going to shit._

_DeATH2L33T: He'll show, he's a good guy. I don't think he's actually a trekkie nilla, its just a pun. Not a particularly great one but you don't have to be funny when your kung fu beats just about everyone else's in the room_

_Nilla:…_

_Nilla:Never watch the Core again. Promise me, OK? That was fcking terrible_

_Wyrmhole has entered the room._

_Wyrmhole:Hey, I'm here._

_Wyrmhole:Hey, Briareus, you made it. Your connection's secure, right?_

_Briareus: As secure as I can get it, anyway._

_Wyrmhole: Fair enough._

The phone rang, and Ray nearly jumped out of his skin. Catching his breath, he chuckled at his reaction. It was probably one of his friends again. He turned back to the screen to see that DeATH2L33T and Nilla were both gone. The next message froze Ray's blood in his veins:

_Wyrmhole: Pick up the phone Ray. I don't have forever here._

Slowly, Ray reached out and lifted the receiver to his ear, cutting it off mid-ring. The slightly gruff voice of an older man came through the earpiece. "This is a tapped line. If you want to know what the Matrix really is, then go to the Downsview Park entrance. Do it now, you won't be given another chance." With that the phone went dead.

Fifteen minutes later agents burst into Ray's apartment, but he was nowhere to be found among the mess. The one known as Agent Black strode across the room to the desk, picking up a small device with a single blinking light. He brought the other hand to his earpiece, broadcasting his report to the agent database. This was the third incidence of tracking failure in a sixteen-day span, without obvious rebel tampering.

Something would have to be done.


	13. Chapter 13

A thin man, hairless and clutching a blanket tightly around his shoulders, scurried to the side of the corridor leading into the mess hall, nearly staggering due to poor balance and an unfamiliar environment. He glared suspiciously at the woman exiting the mess hall, who had violently pulled him into the car that had taken him to the extraction site. Maiar paused for a moment on noting his trepidation, smirking slightly at him before going on her way down to the engine room to get some work done. The man waited nervously for her to be out of sight before moving quickly into the mess hall at a near-run.

The four Solaris crew members remaining in the mess hall watched the young man's frantic movements with amusement. Nes glanced up at the newcomer and handed him a bowl of the protein mixture, who took it with a muttered thanks and a quick glance behind himself before joining Thorn, Eastwood and Tangerine at the table. Nes slipped in next to him, now grinning. "Don't take it personally Bri. Maiar doesn't exactly mess around on the job, that's all."

Briareus, formerly Ray, made a sour face and said nothing immediately, digging into his meal. It wasn't so bad after a little while, he reflected. Bit like eggs really. "Frickin' scary off the job too," he muttered, swallowing a mouthful. "You'd think people who named themselves after Tolkien characters would be less scary and more…not scary." _Good one Ray_, he thought sarcastically, still not used to the new name everyone insisted on calling him. He pointed his spoon at Eastwood. "To be honest, I was expecting to see _you_. She had a little more warning. Wouldn't have liked you much, but I would've been less surprised." Eastwood smirked a little at that, and took a sip of water from his cup.

Tangerine looked slightly perturbed at this. "That's not fair though. All that name actually means is that she's strong." She paused for a second, thinking, before breaking into a sly grin. "Besides, I think Sauron was a Maiar too."

Briareus snorted in laughter. "Well then, that settles it. We're all secretly huge nerds." He declared. Eastwood flashed a sardonic grin. "Secretly? Really." Nes looked a bit confused at the dialogue, looking between Briareus and the girl in an attempt to glean the meaning of their words somehow. Thorn caught this, and explained, "Set of fantasy novels written in the mid twentieth century. Very popular." He turned to Tangerine, smirk still firmly in place. "Still don't get which you named yourself after a piece of fruit though."

Tangerine sneered slightly at this. "Didn't. It's a song title. It was appropriate." She declared airly, as if that explained all.

Nes watched this display, smiling gently. "Tan, you have engine room duty with Maiar, right?" The girl looked sharply at Nes. "What? What happened to watch duty? I'm good at that! Maiar doesn't let me touch anything in there anyhow."

"Maybe if you actually watched for potentials instead of…other people, Worm wouldn't have had you pulled from it then." Nes got up, ushering Tangerine from the room, who was quickly beginning to sulk at the mention of her lost privilege.

Briareus watched then leave, confused. "Other…?"

Thorn snorted. "She had all the screens focused on Chuck Norris. Kept sendin' him spooky messages we only usually send potentials. It was getting a little creepy. Worm's banned Chuck Norris jokes from the ship. Not sure what the punishment is though- its usually watch duty, but the kid's the only one who likes it. Nes told me she'd taken care of it though." The woman never did mention what Tangerine had said- or done- to merit sufficient blackmail material, but as long as it kept the girl at bay he didn't really care much.

Briareus watched him for a moment before something clicked in his mind. "You were a Micheal Myers fan, weren't you? Those Hallowe'en movies?" Thorn blinked, then beamed. "Damn, I thought I had everyone believing I was a huge anarchist or something. Eh, whatever. Pretty good though, kid," He slapped the younger man's shoulder before getting up. "Gotta get back to work though. Still have half the maintenance list to get through."

After the man had left, the two remaining continued to eat in silence for a few moments.

The silence was broken as Eastwood cleared his throat slightly, causing Briareus to look up from his bowl. "I didn't mention to Worm that you'd been seeing her, by the way." he stated, a flicker of guilt tightening his voice to a small degree. "I think he's worked it out anyhow. They've got her helping other ships pull people out of the Matrix since you saw…." Eastwood trailed off, awkwardly looking at his hands.

Briareus didn't notice. "Thanks," He said. What else could he say? How his girlfriend had become a wreck after Eastwood had left before disappearing herself? Only now, after what he'd been through, could he begin to really appreciate the danger that they had been in.

"She's really OK? Nes said you guys ran into the crew she's with in Zion." Eastwood sighed at this.

"We got permanently assigned to our ships at the same time, I only talked with her for a bit. Didn't even make the connection between her and this sister the Captain suddenly has 'till she took a shot at him at the docks." Eastwood paused thoughtfully. "It was pretty funny to be honest."

"Hn." Briareus looked down to see that he had finished eating, Standing, he stretched and suddenly looked hopeful. "Hey, do you think Nes has time for training now?"

"Well she is the operator. Don't think there's any missions, so you should be OK."

"Great. I feel like hitting something. Can we spar? Is that a thing here?"

Eastwood thought a moment. He had a few free hours, and Briareus badly needed the training. "Sure." They started down the corridor towards the broadcast room. "

When they arrived, Nes was absorbed in a conversation over her headset with an unknown caller. She saw them enter and focused her attention on Eastwood. "Get the captain down here. Right now." All humour had drained from her face. She looked at Eastwood. "Get the others, but don't panic anyone. I don't know how much of a situation we have yet."

As the two men fled from the room to comply, she turned back to her screens, worry creeping in and breaking the calm that she had forced for the two newest recruits. The others would know that she would only call everyone down for a something major- sleep was too precious a commodity here for her to wake people up off shift. That was the captain's job, she thought wryly, in spite of everything. However, the brief flash of humour dissipated as the details of what the speaker from the Logos came through on her screen. "Oh, _shit_," she breathed.


	14. Chapter 14

**A quick note- apologies to readers for the long delay in updating. I moved about six months ago, and typically don't publish without a decent buffer, or at the very least a clear outline of the next chapter. Therein lay the problem- those who know the canon from ****_Reloaded_**** know that the story takes a dark turn at the end of it. Rhea is not a Mary-Sue by any stretch, so I had to find a path where this story can end, and my characters would plausibly follow.**

**Three more chapters to go...enjoy! And review, if you can! I can always use good feedback to take forward.**

A turtle walked by on the old television screen as Rhea watched, lying facing the device on the quasi-existent floor of the Construct, watching the small reptile waded past with eyes that appeared clouded and distant. Her RSI had altered slightly since she had first arrived three months ago; her hair was similar to the reality now, a few inches long and slightly spiked. The boots and heavy canvas pants remained out of practicality, but the cold dark colours of her old clothes had given way to warm burgundies, oranges and yellows.

The dreaming look upon her face cracked into a small smile as the turtle flickered very slightly, then quickly lost focus and vanished. An alarm sounded from everywhere and nowhere- her time was up. Rhea closed her eyes in the Construct and opened them again inside the broadcast room.

Rhea lay there for a moment, breathing deeply, then sat up slowly. She had been practicing image manipulations for a few weeks now, feeling out her limits- Medea had put down a mandate after her actions after meeting with the Oracle that she train an additional one hour per day on controlling her 'irregularity; even though she had created an opening in getting around agent interference, her actions could have put the team at risk.

Rhea couldn't argue- it was barely a slap on the risk, and she really did need the extra practice. Medea hadn't even grounded her- quite the opposite. News of the incident had spread like wildfire. Over the past ten days, Val or Loki had escorted her into the Matrix on two additional excursions, reducing the risk to the rebels before they arrived to extract the coppertop. Scrambling the signals was getting easier to do deliberately, rather than as a knee-jerk reaction. Her range was improving as well- her last target had been half a block away.

Skylla stepped into the broadcast room. "You're up. Good. We've got sentinels coming in- we'll be going quiet for a while."

* * *

><p>Medea couldn't sleep again- the dreams had come back.<p>

She had been running down the aisle of the old warehouse years ago- she had only been unplugged a year or so. A confused and frightened Makai ran along behind her. The agents had stopped chasing them, but this only made the youth more nervous, not less. She had stopped at the end of the aisle, banging on the door at the dead end hard three times.

Makai had been terrified, and Medea remembered feeling pity; they had been close as children, and beyond. Now she had shown up after disappearing of the face of the earth, and dragging him off as if all of hell were after them. Makai had pleaded with her to slow down and explain , but there had been no time.

She had given assurances, chanting them as the reached the warehouse and raced for her team. _Should have given him the pill first_, she had chided herself. But there had been no time, and it had to be his her gun at the ready, listening and waiting for the sound of the heavy door being unlocked, as Makai's anxiety grew.

As the heavy lock of the door clicked, Medea heard Makai scream in pain and terror behind her, and she moved without thinking, a trained soldier to the core. She had spun around, going low and raising her gun to sight her friend's head, now shifting into that of an agent. In the instant before she had pulled the trigger she met her friend's eyes, seeing the horror and betrayal etched into them. Then the eyes dulled, and the form had shifted back to wholly his own, crumpling lifelessly to the warehouse floor as the door behind her creaked open- the extraction crew. Medea had stared at the corpse of her friend, numb with shock, barely registering as her crewmates gently turned her away from the sight and pressed a ringing phone to her ear.

It was no use trying to sleep further, not tonight. Reaching down for her boots she pulled herself back up and put them on, grabbing an extra blanket to wrap around her shoulders as she made her way up to the cockpit.

She hadn't thought of Makai for a while. Medea squeezed her eyes shut a moment, walking steadily through the broadcast room on the way to the cockpit as she had done hundreds of times before. It had taken months for her to stop having anxiety attacks when a new recruit was extracted.

Medea idly wondered how Rhea would come off in such a situation. She wasn't fond of sending her out as insurance for other ships. Makai had never been bugged, and he had been lost all the same. Would the other crews grow complacent? Did the other captains have the same reaction to Neo arriving on the scene?

Medea came to the top of the ladder where the cockpit, filled with the rest of the crew save her gunner, watched silently for signs of sentinels. "Is the EMP ready?" she asked warily. "Skylla's got it locked in, ready on you command Captain," came the reply from Aiglos, who had already landed and powered down the ship.

As the group waited tersely for the danger to pass, Medea turned to Rhea, speaking in a low tone. "I got a message from Solaris for you earlier, by the way, when they were reporting the proximity warning. They just extracted the young man that you debugged first."

Aiglos spoke up from the co-pilot's chair. "Captain, we may need to plot a new course once the sentinels are clear. Orders have come in from Zion. The Logos has found something big."

The entire crew of the Solaris stood silent in the broadcast room. After a moment of stunned silence, Medea spoke. "The order came from Zion, you said?"

Aiglos nodded. "Affirmative. The Logos retrieved a package earlier today and sent out an emergency broadcast to Zion. Niobe called an emergency meeting." He looked at Medea. "The Osirus went down pretty recently, right? The Logos was tracking their last broadcast…"

"Which means that they came across something big." Nix finished for him. He looked at Medea, who had remained silent. She directed the next comment to Aiglos. "When."

"At the catacomb," Aiglos confirmed. "Midnight. It's going to be people from all ships."

"And Neo."

"Probably. Unless Morpheus wants to bypass our one insurance policy against your party getting tagged." Loki spoke up from the doorway.

Medea turned to look at him, brows raised. "_My_ party? And just what do you think you'll be doing during this meeting, _ranking officer_?"

She smiled slightly, then swept her eyes across the room, taking in her crew. "That's eight hours out. I want everyone's detail well out of the way in four while Val and I find a broadcast spot. Clear?" The room murmured assent, and began to file out of the room. Rhea, perched on a crate in the corner, hopped down and turned to go.

"Rhea, a moment," Medea called. Aiglos looked startled at this. Surely she wouldn't…he kept his mouth shut, watching warily.

Rhea looked just as wary. "I was just in training…" she began.

"Have you made progress?" Medea asked.

"I.." Rhea shuffled her feet, looking quickly at Loki, who had hung back. He had been monitoring her training, she knew. Rhea flicked her eyes to the back of Aiglos' chair and focused them on that spot. "I'm disrupting the items you sent out without much trouble. The animal programs…transient items. The bugs were alive when they were active." She wrapped her arms around her thin frame."

"Transient…" Medea mused. "I wonder. Remember that first extraction you performed, by the warehouse?" Rhea nodded, jaw tight. Was this a delayed punishment? "You said that Solaris pulled him," she said, eyes wary.

Medea smiled faintly. "They did. When you did that, I was watching him. I've seen an agent override happen. It's…unpleasant…for the host. That was starting to happen with your young friend." Medea's smile hardened. "Except that it didn't."

Rhea's eyes snapped over to meet Medea's gaze. "You didn't tell me…"

"That I almost shot him to protect my crew? No. What you did worked, Rhea. It's worked since that first incident. I needed to consider what it meant for all of us." Those inscrutable eyes never left her face. A long moment passed.

Rhea looked back. "I don't understand," she finally admitted.

Medea sighed. "It means that you're coming in with us at midnight."

Aiglos stared at Medea, aghast. Medea steadfastly ignored him, addressing a stunned Rhea. "Get something to eat. Sleep. I'm going to need you to be rested." Rhea stood rooted to the spot. "_Dismissed_."

The girl started then stumbled backwards past Loki before orienting herself to half-walk, half-jog to her room.

Medea waited a moment. "Loki," she stated. He nodded, stepping fully into the room and shutting the door behind him. "I wasn't sure you'd pursue it," he admitted.

Aiglos finally broke his silence. "Medea…I know she's got an interesting skill, but…this is a red-level mission. Every captain in one room?" Medea turned slowly to look at him. "Look, I trust you. You've kept all of us alive for a long time. I just don't understand where you're going with this. Skill or no, she's still the omega on board."

Medea placed a hand on Aiglo's shoulder. "I know," she said. "And I would have kept her out of the Matrix for a while, but Loki had a theory. I had to see." She looked at Loki, who nodded. Aiglos looked at Loki, the question in his eyes clear.

"She shorted out the bugs. _Transient_ signals, she said. And at the warehouse, she disrupted the agent program. Mostly by accident, I think- She was too focused on the bug."

"Exactly. Hence the extra training." Medea smiled at the broadcast screen. "Agents expect guns. But if she's able to lock on, she might function as an agent EMP."

"And if she can't?" Aiglos ventured.

She looked at him with sad eyes. "I've heard rumours about what the meeting is about." She screwed her eyes shut. She had lost a lot of sleep recently. "We may be approaching the time for desperate measures." _And if the rumours were true, _she added silently, _the resistance would need every measure it could._

_They would need to make whatever sacrifices necessary._


End file.
